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(Jim Hawkins' Radio and Broadcast Technology Page)
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Posted December 25, 2001. |
From Gravity to Radio Energy |
| Sometime around 1980, I visited the Safe Harbor Plant. This isn't radio, but I figured most visitors of my radio
site who ppreciate seeing the powerful broadcast transmitting equipment on this site would also enjoy seeing these
pictures. At the time there were 6 generating units. According to the official PPL web site, there are now 12 generating units. There are probably many other changes, which have occurred in the roughly 40 years since this visit. The Safe Harbor Hydroelectric tation is located about 10 miles southwest of Lancaster, Pa. on the Susquehanna River. The dam is 4,869 feet long and 75 feet high. The Safe Harbor station was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad to provide power for its electrified operations in the eastern PA/Maryland area, specifically the Harrisburg to Paoli mainline, the "low grade" freight line, and the C,P,&D - the "port road" Harrisburg to Port Deposit Maryland. |
| From Wikipedia: “The first power was generated on December 7, 1931, and the last of the original seven turbine generator units came on-line on October 14, 1940. Planning for expansion of the generation capacity started in 1981. Construction started on April 12, 1982, and the five new turbine generator units came on-line between April 13, 1985 and April 12, 1986. Units 1 and 2 are Kaplan turbines connected to single-phase generators to produce 25 Hz single-phase electric power for railroad use by Amtrak and SEPTA, but also can be connected to a motor-generator to convert any spare 25 Hz power to 60 Hz. The rest of the units generate 60 Hz, three-phase power. Safe Harbor can generate 417.5 megawatts of hydroelectric power.” Added: 3/12/2023 Steve Kraus alerted me about this info. |
A note from Doug Walker, Clear Channel, Cincinnati: |
| The plant was built, as were a number of others for rail traction, to provide 25 HZ AC. Other railroads using
this standard includedthe New Haven and the Great Northern. Pennsylvania Railroad acquired the New York Central in early 1968, becoming Penn Central in the process. Penn Central acquiredthe New Haven in 1970, and went bankrupt in 1971. It was operated as a trusteeship until the creation of Conrail in 1976. Conrail ceased electric traction operation in the 1980's, and Amtrak (the passenger successor) retired the prr electric fleet (mostly GG1'S)in the late 1980'S. The current Amtrak electric passenger fleet uses commercially generated 60 hertz power (Asea AEM7 locomotives; Acela and modified late generation Pioneer III corridor trainsets.) I do not know whether the Safe Harbor plant was converted or what service it may still provide. |
Notice the tracks on the right and left walls. A hoisting device rides along these tracks to for lifting and moving of heavy parts for the service and maintenance of the generators.
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View of all six generators from a high loft at the end of the plant. The two nearest generators put out 25 HZ power for the railroad (if my memory serves me correctly). The other four are 60 HZ generators for public power. |
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A more direct view of the front generator. |
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In our tour, we actually walked into one of these generator compartments and were able to see the huge, slowly rotating shaft. |
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Some, pumps, plumbing and other "stuff." |
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Another view of the dam. |
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Feed points going out after voltage is stepped up by transformers. |
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